<<< ‚Äď they are all attitudes achieved through thinking on those things.>>>> ¬†(emphasis mine) The these things being –

<<<8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable‚ÄĒif anything is excellent or praiseworthy‚ÄĒthink about such things.>>>.

It has been said – “Action follows thought.” Many times it is so easy to tell how one is thinking- just by noticing what¬†one says/does!

Thank you for sharing how your good attitude, in the midst of adverse situations,¬†kept you alive and well.

At the last Bible Study led by Linda (our minister who retired the end of June) she asked each of us to bring our favourite bible passage and explain why. Two people picked the 23rd Psalm which I think every Christian probably believe is one of the most memorable passage in the Bible.

I chose Philippians 4:4-8:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable‚ÄĒif anything is excellent or praiseworthy‚ÄĒthink about such things.

That is the New International Version which I chose after reading it in my Parallel Bible as I found it the most beautiful version. It deals with attitude.

To understand fully why it means so much to me one has to go back to my introduction to it in the Missionary Church as the pastor was preaching through the book of Philippians in the 198os. Then when my sons moved out in 1994 and my wife became physically abusive in MArch 1995, I needed to focus on something positive and I kept going back to this passage as pure, lovely, admirable, excellent – they are all attitudes achieved through thinking on those things.

I did not notice so much myself BUT the years between 1995 and 2000 when I left the marriage, both my parents died, my sister-in-law died, the Aunt who had given my wife and I our wedding reception died. Throughout that period I was frightened – I would get into the car to go home and start shaking from fear as my wife was unstable. I was depressed – I did not publish any research during that period. It was when a student who had had me during that period and later in 2001 came to my office and said “did something happen? You seem 10 years younger”. when I realized how much my fear and loss during that five years had meant. That passage and jokes people sent to me kept me alive.

This has been around for some time now, but sometimes some things need to be refreshed.

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me , is more important than fact. It is more important than the past, than education than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes , than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearances, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change¬†our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that¬† that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it… And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.